top of page

RECENT PRESS

Tandava REVIEWS

"Scotland meets Bangalore and beyond in a music-dance showcase that is both distinct and excellent"

The List

"A coming together of cultural excellence, where the sum is even greater than its parts,"

The Scotsman

"This is a multi-layered, multi-cultural work" *****

Arts Review Edinburgh

"This show is very beautiful to watch with fabulous music from Simon Thacker"

Broadway Baby

"I was captivated by the whole thing"

Sinners Review (YouTube video review)

Tandava PRESS 

Live on BBC News Channel

Eastern Eye (Simon Thacker interview)

Eastern Eye (Piah Dance Company interview)

Music News Scotland (front cover feature)

Music News Scotland (article)

The Guardian (50 best shows to see)

Bangalore Mirror (India)

Planet Hugill

The Edinburgh Reporter

Scottish Jazz Space 

Pashyanti On Guitar REVIEWS

"I cannot think of a guitarist of our time who has done more to push the guitar [and the music for the guitar] beyond the limits for which the instrument has been designed to a greater degree than Simon Thacker...unique genius" 

World Music Report (Canada)

"impossible delicacy and dexterity" 

The Scotsman (Scotland)

 "a very special aural and visual experience" 

Caleidoscope (India)

"astonishing musicianship" 

jazzlocal32 (New Zealand) 

"***** mesmerised the audience" 

Threeweeks (UK) 

"a long-time favourite" 

Elsewhere (New Zealand) 

"enchanting power" 

Urban Asian (USA) 

"superb, atmospheric and evocative" 

Lothian Life (Scotland) 

We Shall Overcome PRESS

Bongodorshon (India, in Bengali)

Sunday Post (Scotland)

Wisconsin Public Radio (USA)

Caleidoscope (India)

East Lothian Courier (Scotland)

UrbanAsian (USA)

Gulf Weekly (Bahrain)

India 2019 solo tour PRESS

Caleidoscope Magazine (India) major feature

 

Urban Asian (USA) major feature

Tàradh by Simon Thacker's Ritmata PRESS

"Simon Thacker is a musical alchemist"

World Music Report (Canda)

The Scotsman full page feature

Scotland.org special feature

 

"The Scottish guitarist and composer is the owner of a visionary kind of lucidity"
Touching Extremes (Italy)


"Haunting, exquisite and the epitome of research into a new sphere of influence"
Liverpool Sound and Vision

 

"Simon Thacker seems to be able to create “timeless” music."
Southside Advertiser

 

"The audacious 10-minute suite that closes the album, finds Thacker following his muse to its last"
The Arts Desk

The Scotsman featured artist of the week

 

"Intricacy, immediacy and sheer musicality"
Jazz Views

 

"An eclectic, compelling album"
London Jazz News

 

"Musical transcendence in action."
Fabrications HQ (scroll down)

Modern Jazz Today full page feature


"Exists somewhere between a master class and masterful originality, and reinvention of traditions"
Elsewhere (New Zealand)

 

"The impressive 'Quadriga In 5' has already been nominated for The Ivors Composer Award."

Songlines

 

Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti: Trikala REVIEWS

"One wonders whether in a past life Simon Thacker was a Bengali itinerant Baul mystic musician or perhaps a South Indian master of mridangam. Such is his grasp of the techniques and spirit of India’s disparate musical styles...a major statement in the co-evolution of Indian and Western music."  
Songlines Magazine (UK) 

 

"A clear spiritual kinship with the great post-Coltrane quest for transcendence...Thacker’s brilliant ensemble have found their metier." 

Jazz Journal (UK)

 

"Stellar classical guitar picking and percussion work with delightfully cascading rhythms"

Rolling Stone India

 

"...you don't just listen once or twice, pick a highlight and slap a genre-style label on it, especially not one of this magnitude..."

FabricationsHQ

 

"What is crucial to Trikala's success is that Thacker has stretched himself... The second CD is deeply rooted in the Baul soil and Baul philosophy...Helay Helay Din Boye Jay is remarkable...He's flying" 

fRoots Magazine

 

"Thacker's acute ear lends his transcriptions and recreations real authenticity. Original pieces like “The Fire of Intention” are superb...A real achievement, and one of those rare double albums without a dud track."
The Arts Desk (UK)

"Thacker reveals the full extent of both his compositional abilities and his virtuosity."
World Music Report (Canada)

"a remarkable study into an array of musical traditions and the fruits their cross-pollination can yield"
The List (UK)

"an all-inclusive recipe of brilliant interplay"
Touching Extremes (Italy)

"a matter of smooth symbiotic genius"
Liverpool Sound and Vision

"isn't diluted to get a desired but superficial effect, instead it distills down to deeper essences and ancient traditions."
Elsewhere (New Zealand)

 

"With Trikala, Simon Thacker has transcended Western concepts of melody and rhythm and the influences of the music of the Indian subcontinent...to produce music that travels across continents, cultural and musical differences"

Jazz Views


"as you listen more, you begin to realise what a multi-crossing of cultural paths this work truly is."
Southside Advertiser (UK)

"traditional music is refracted through the present to create something new... very much a disc for those with questing minds" 
Planet Hugill (UK) 


"ambitious and assured...the 2 hours 18 minutes duration reflects Thacker's immersion in Indian classical, folk and spiritual traditions."
Rhythms Magazine (Australia)

"Simon Thacker brings together a broad spectrum of musicians from Indian, Bangladeshi and Western backgrounds that's kaleidoscopic...reveals the depth of the guitarist's explorations of these diverse cultures."
Jazzwise (UK)

"Scottish guitarist Simon Thacker has been a favorite of mine since I first heard his unique fusion of classical guitar and Indian music elements about four years ago. His most recent recording is the stunning and original double-CD Trikala"
Classical Guitar Magazine (USA)

Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti: Trikala FEATURES: 

Bongodorshon (India, in Bengali)

The Hindu (India)

Times of India 

Homegrown

The Sunday Guardian

Music Plus

Urban Asian (USA)

Urban Asian 2 (USA)

Urban Asian 3 (USA)

Desiblitz (UK)  

Music News Scotland (UK)

Bongodorshon (India, in Bengali)

Daily Star (Bangladesh, in English)

Sangbad Pratidin (India, in Bengali)

bdnews24 (Bangladesh, in Bengali) 

Ei Samay (India, in Bengali)

Prothom Alo (Bangladesh, in Bengali)

London Jazz News

East Lothian Courier

Eastern Eye

Eastern Eye (focus on Sunayana Ghosh) 

Born of Web (India)

Raga to Rock (|ndia)

Caleidoscope (India)

Radio and Music (India)

Radio and Music 2 (India)

Narc Magazine 1

Narc Magazine 2

bottom of page